Chris Roper’s article “The Cape Party is a depressing reminder that there are people out there who still believe they aren’t South African”, published on the 11th of June 2020 on the Financial Mail, accuses a desire for Cape independence to be steeped in privilege, but fails to see how the desire for independence is rather a call for a better run province and country.
The Western Cape is no doubt the best run province in South Africa but is still hamstrung by the dictates of an often vindictive national government. Disaster relief is restricted, our need for a provincial police force (accountable to its local constituency) is ignored and our hefty contribution to the budget is squandered on corruption and mismanagement.
Cape independence isn’t an issue belonging solely to the privileged. It is an issue of Capetonians who have been neglected by the national government, who don’t feel represented, and who want more for their financial and professional contributions.
I advise the author of the article to keep this all-in mind when he paints independence with such a dismissive brush. He isn’t dismissing solely some privileged secessionists, but a people that the national government has proven to not truly care about.
The Financial Mail and BusinessLive failed to publish this response in due time, so it has been published here instead.
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